


This will show us that the devil breaks

by Port_in_a_Storm



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, October Stunt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 08:01:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8136467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Port_in_a_Storm/pseuds/Port_in_a_Storm
Summary: Robert learns what it is to draw strength from others in the aftermath of Aaron being injured in October.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This story is based on this marvelous post by Nicole (Fangirlqueen87/@littlelooneyluna) who suggested [this](http://littlelooneyluna.tumblr.com/post/149852888777/i-know-some-people-would-really-love-to-see-aaron) amazing series of scenarios concerning the October stunt outcome, and she very graciously allowed me to write it into a fic! Happy reading, and thank you again Nicole :)

Why was this happening again? Why was Robert here again in this _fucking_ hospital waiting for news of one of the most important people in his life? 

He couldn’t sit still, couldn’t concentrate on anything, couldn’t think about anything else but Aaron. Aaron lying in that damn bed, Aaron hurt, Aaron falling off that quarry edge. Why Aaron? He would have given anything to be in his boyfriend’s place right now. He rubbed his face. God, what would he say to Chas and Paddy when they got here? He was already walking on thin ice with them (Paddy especially). Where would _this_ leave them?

Robert heard the door to Aaron’s room open and he shot up off his seat. ‘Excuse me?’ he said urgently to the young nurse. ‘Aaron Dingle… please, can you tell me anything?’

‘And you are?’

‘Robert. Sugden. I brought him in; I’m his boyfriend.’

The nurse nodded. ‘We don’t know anything for sure yet Mr Sugden, but as soon as we do we’ll come and find you.’

She was about to walk off when Robert grabbed her by the arm. ‘Wait. You—you don’t _know_ anything? What exactly have you been doing in there the past half an hour then?’

‘We’re doing everything we can.’

‘Well, obviously you’re not! My boyfriend is—’ He stopped and breathed deeply; realised that he was probably causing a scene. ‘Please, I just… I need to know.’

She sighed. ‘We don’t want to say anything until we know for sure, Mr Sugden. Just… wait for further news.’ Clearly that was all he was going to get out of her. He nodded and let her go, and watched as she hurried down the corridor.

Aaron would be fine, he tried to assure himself. He was strong; stronger than anyone Robert had ever known. He’d get through this in one piece. He had to.

_He had to._

****

He didn’t want to look at his watch or his phone: didn’t want to know how much time was passing with Aaron lying there, whilst he sat out here useless as ever. God, what was he supposed to do if Aaron… that man was his life. Without him, what did Robert have? Without him… he felt the loneliness creep up on him, little by little. He hadn’t been lonely in so long. Only six months since they reunited, but it felt like his entire life was wrapped up in those scant months. 

Robert needed to do something. He had to do something, or he’d go mad. He felt a sob trying to wrench itself out of his throat and did his best to push it back. No, he wouldn’t sob, he wouldn’t cry. At some point, Chas and Paddy would be here, and then Vic and Adam. He had to be strong. God, he was so tired of being strong. He was strongest when he was in Aaron’s arms.

Aaron… Aaron… Aaron…

No, he had to… had to do something… stand up, walk around, anything. There was a vending machine. He could use some coffee. He had two pounds in his pocket. He pushed the coins in and selected the black coffee. Nothing happened. He pressed it again.

‘Come on,’ he grunted through gritted teeth. ‘Come on.’ Still nothing. He pushed the button harder, kept his finger there, made it _fucking bruise make it fucking hurt_. ‘Fucking piece of shit!’ He pounded on the machine, kicking and screaming at it. Didn’t stop, he could feel tears running down his cheeks, could hear his voice howling…

Then a hand on his shoulder and a press of the button. And coffee in a cup. Steaming and brown.

****

Paddy was giving him side glances as Robert sat on the chair again, nursing a polystyrene cup in his shaking hands. He probably thought he was nuts. Likely wouldn’t be the first time. Chas was pacing up and down the corridor, the way Robert had before they both got there.

‘You alright?’ Paddy said, low and quiet. Robert flinched. It was the same voice he had used in the lodge, when he was bleeding from the arm and in pain, but still talking to Robert as if he could be helped. That attitude went out the window as soon as Paddy and Aaron were out of that place, and safely in the former’s car.

Robert nodded shakily. 

‘Why won’t they tell us anything?’ Chas was muttering. ‘Why are they making us wait?’

No one answered her because no one knew.

‘Do you want to pretend that didn’t happen then?’ Paddy said, gesturing to the vending machine. ‘I’ve seen it in Aaron, you know. You don’t fool me.’

‘Shut up, Paddy.’ But Robert didn’t put any heat behind it.

‘It’s okay to be scared, you know.’

‘Yeah?’ Robert lowered his voice so Chas wouldn’t hear them, though he was pretty sure she was in her own world at this point. ‘And if I lose it, what about Chas? Eh? She’s barely hanging on. And what about when Vic and Adam get here?’

‘And what about you?’ Paddy said. ‘You don’t have to be strong all the time, Robert.’

He ducked his head. ‘Aaron makes me strong,’ he said. He hadn’t intended to say it, and Paddy looked just as surprised as Robert at the admission.

‘I think you make him strong, too.’

And he didn’t know why, but something about Paddy’s soft fatherly voice, and the acceptance (finally that acceptance that Robert yearned to hear from someone) in it made him break down. His lips wobbled, but he didn’t cry. He refused to cry. Paddy put his hand on Robert’s shoulder.

****

Vic and Adam arrived not long after. Vic was a mess, her mascara everywhere, her face red from crying. Adam fared no better. Seeing them like that made Robert sit up a little straighter; made him put up the wall that he could protect himself with and lean against all at the same time. Victoria needed her brother to be strong for her, so that’s what he would be.

‘Any news?’ Adam asked Chas (sitting now, leaning against Paddy. Nurses had mistaken Paddy for the father of Aaron more than once) whilst Vic sought comfort in Robert’s solid embrace.

Chas shrugged. ‘They’re still not saying much, but we think the worst is over. The nurses aren’t rushing around quite as much as they were.’

It was a poor reason to think that things were getting better, Robert thought. But he wasn’t about to ruin Chas’s hope. 

They had shared a hug earlier, after she had stopped pacing and Paddy was in the loo. She seemed to realise that Robert was there and she pulled him into her arms. Unplanned and more than a little strange, he saw it for what it was: she was taking comfort from someone else who loved Aaron as much as she did. He couldn’t afford to break down. He’d do it later, when he was alone. Maybe at Aaron’s bedside, and then his boyfriend—his love of his life—could tell him what a sap he was, crying like that over him. 

He breathed shakily. 

Chas caught it and looked up at him. ‘It’ll be alright, you know,’ she said. ‘He’ll pull through this. He will.’ Her voice was raised and thin. He remembered her saying _‘And then Aaron can come home’_ in that same voice when Aaron was in Ireland, as if pleading with him that that was what would happen. 

‘Yeah, course he will,’ he said with a smile.

‘He will, love,’ she said. It was a new one, calling him ‘love’, and something that he’d yet to get used to. But it made him feel part of the family. Look how far he’d come. It couldn’t end now. 

He pulled back from Vic, who gave him a look. ‘Need some air. Call me if you hear anything.’ He congratulated himself on a steady voice, and walked away from them. He felt their eyes on him all the way to the end of the corridor.

****

Robert leaned against the wall. He needed space, but at the same time… he didn’t want to be alone. He didn’t want to be anywhere but at Aaron’s side. Why him? Why now? Always… always Aaron. As if things weren’t terrible enough for him. 

Before he knew it, tears were rolling down his cheeks. And they didn’t stop there: he was whimpering, weeping, sobbing. A fucking mess.

‘Rob?’

He jerked his eyes open. Victoria was standing there, her big eyes filled with worry for him. He broke. ‘I’m so scared, Vic.’ She tugged him forward and into her arms. 

‘He’s gonna be fine, Robert,’ she whispered. ‘You’ll see. He’ll be fine.’

_If he isn’t, it’ll kill me,_ he thought. He kept that to himself, though. It was enough to be in her arms and not have to pretend.

They walked back to the room a little bit later, after Robert had cried himself out. He had tried to wipe his face as best he could but something must have shown, because as soon as Chas saw him, she rubbed his arm soothingly. ‘He’ll be okay, Rob,’ she said. Her voice was steady, and he didn’t know if she was certain of it, or if she was just being strong for him. _So that’s what that feels like._

**Author's Note:**

> Come have a nosy on tumblr!: [Port in a Storm](http://www.portinastorm.tumblr.com)
> 
> The title is a line from the song 'Hold on' by Sons of the East


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